A Kiwi climber attributed with one of the world's greatest mountaineering feats - and one of the most forgotten - has today been remembered in a moving event sixty years on.
Norman Hardie was a 30-year old civil engineer from Timaru when he became the first to scale Kangchenjunga, a Himalayan giant mountain only a few hundred metres lower than Everest, on May 26, 1955.
The technically challenging climb - said to be much tougher than the world's highest peak - would be the pinnacle of Mr Hardie's remarkable mountaineering career.
But most Kiwis have never heard of him.
"Nearly all New Zealanders are familiar with Hillary and Everest, but have never heard of Norman Hardie and Mt Kangchenjunga," said New Zealand Alpine Club general manager, Sam Newton.